Cedar Ridge defeated Eastern Alamance on Wednesday night 3-0. Macy Henry finished with 25 assists as the Red Wolves finished a strong opening week of the season. They start conference play next Thursday against Northwood, but first take on Durham School of the Arts on Monday.
Cedar Ridge’s Macy Henry Discusses the Red Wolves 2-0 start
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In volleyball, this is what statistical domination looks like.
10 block points, nine aces, 29 kills in three sets. That’s what Cedar Ridge amassed in sweeping Eastern Alamance 3-0 on Wednesday night in the Red Wolves’ home opener on scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-17.
Cedar Ridge is 2-0 after a thrilling five-set win over Durham School of the Arts on Monday in Sykes Gymnasium. In 2016, the Red Wolves didn’t earn its 2nd win of the season until September 1st, seven games into the season.
Senior Alexa Pagnanelli piled up ten digs, 12 service points and four aces. Tori Zielke registered eight kills and one block. Sarah McCuiston had seven kills, four solo blocks, two block assists and two aces. Macy Henry finished with 25 assists. Emma Downing totaled two solo blocks and one block assist.
The Red Wolves enjoy the rest of the week off, but have three games next week. They have a rematch against DSA at Red Wolves Gymnasium next Monday. Cedar Ridge starts Big 8 Conference play at Northwood next Thursday.
Ward and Milner each had two victories on Wednesday in Cedar Ridge’s season-opening 9-0 win over Eastern Alamance. Ward and Milner captured their respective singles matches. Ward teamed with Ivy Garner to win at #1 doubles. Milner joined Nora Sayers in a victory at #2 doubles.
Olivia Ward and Kate Milner on Cedar Ridge Tennis’ Win over Eastern Alamance
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Cedar Ridge had to wait 48 hours longer than expected to earn its first tennis win of the season, but it was worth the wait.
After Monday’s match against Bartlett Yancey was rained out, the Red Wolves stormed past Eastern Alamance 9-0 on Wednesday at Red Wolves Tennis Courts.
Ivy Garner earned her 1st win at #1 singles for Cedar Ridge, winning her match 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Olivia Ward racked up two victories on the day, taking her singles match 6-0, 6-1. Ward teamed with Garner for a 8-0 win in doubles, which was the final match of the day.
Kate Milner captured her first singles match of the season 6-0, 6-2. Milner also teamed with Nora Sauers for a 8-1 doubles win. Sauers easily took her #4 singles match 6-0, 6-4.
Maddy Werner was also victorius at #5 singles 6-2, 6-1. Natalie Marochak earned her first varsity singles win 6-3, 6-4.
Marochak and Werner teamed to win at #3 doubles 8-2.
Cedar Ridge will have a short turnaround. They face Durham School of the Arts on Thursday. DSA was the only team to defeat Cedar Ridge in the regular season in 2016.
The 2016-2017 academic year was a lengthy one for Orange and Cedar Ridge. It started on August 19th and ended on June 3rd, which was the last day of the NCHSAA sports calendar, when Orange claimed the 3A State Softball Championship. Along the way, Cedar Ridge claimed the Big 8 Girls Tennis and Boys Lacrosse championships, while Orange won conference championships in football, boys and girls basketball, softball and wrestling.
Whether the upcoming season will be as successful is anyone’s guess, but it certainly starts with a full slate.
In boys soccer, Cedar Ridge travels to Durham School of the Arts. Orange will also play on the road against Carrboro.
In volleyball, Cedar Ridge also travels to Durham School of the Arts. Orange hosts Eastern Alamance.
In girls tennis, Cedar Ridge starts defense of its Big 8 Championship against Bartlett Yancy at home. Orange will host Eastern Alamance.
We will have complete coverage of all sports teams at Orange and Cedar Ridge all season. We’ll also have Friday’s broadcast of Cedar Ridge football vs. Carrboro with new play-by-play man Nathan Bernstein. Plus, we’ll broadcast Orange at Northern Nash live on Friday night, as well.
Cedar Ridge Volleyball starts its 2017 season tonight on the road against Durham School of the Arts in venerable Sykes Gymnasium. Under 2nd year coach Laura Fortner, the Red Wolves look to bounce back from an 8-14 season in 2016. Colby Rabalais is one player who wants to prove something to a new Big 8 Conference this year, which includes the additions of East Chapel Hill, Northern Durham and Hillside.
Cedar Ridge Junior Colby Rabalais Talks the Red Wolves Opener vs. DSA
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It will be a young Cedar Ridge boys soccer team that takes the field on Monday night in the season opener at Durham School of the Arts. The Red Wolves lost nine seniors from last year’s team, including leading scorer Trent Gill, who scored 16 goals, midfielder Elmer Trujillo, who scored six goals, and Rene Castellanos. In 2016, the Red Wolves finished 10-6-4 overall, 7-3-2 in the Big 8, behind only Chapel Hil. One player who is returning is senior center back Henry Mellor, who will guide the back line for head coach Chris Walker.
Cedar Ridge Center Back Henry Mellor Prepares for Season Opener
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Regardless of whether new Cedar Ridge graduates Jack Widman, Sean Tobin, Cole Bullard, Kelsey Acome, Carter Danku, Ethan Strowd, Alex Bernal or Issac Rivera go now after turning their tassels on Friday at the Smith Center, they can rest assured they are in exclusive company.
Their own.
They will forever be known as the first high school lacrosse team from Hillsborugh to play for a state championship. Though they lost to Weddington 21-6 at WakeMed Soccer Park on May 19, it didn’t erase the fact that the Red Wolves won the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship.
On Thursday, Widman was named the Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year. Widman scored 59 goals, notched 33 assists and finished with 92 points in his senior season. In his career, he scored 105 goals, 75 assists and 180 points. He also won 65% of his faceoffs, capturing 80 out of 123 draws.
Widman’s classmate Cole Bullard was named Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year. Bullard scored 20 goals and eight assists for the Red Wolves. Bullard had a season-high four goals in the May 9 playoff victory over Eastern Alamance. He scored a team-high two goals in the state championship game.
Orange’s Tyson Wolter was named Big 8 Goalie of the Year. Wolter played 565 minutes and made 152 saves, finishing with a .593 save percentage. The Panthers ended the year 11-4.
Ironically, Orange’s David O’Neal was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. The announcement came during the same week where it was publicly revealed that O’Neal wouldn’t return to the Orange sideline next season. A source close to the team says that O’Neal’s undoing came after an incident during a game with Cedar Ridge on April 7 when several coaches were ejected contesting a check by midfielder Payton Wilson.
Under O’Neal’s direction, the Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 14-13 and finished 11-4.
Also making the All-Big 8 team for Cedar Ridge:
* Senior attacker Sean Tobin, who finished with 45 goal and 18 assists. Tobin scored 63 points and ends his CRHS career with 146 goals and 69 assists. The 146 goals is a school record.
* Kelsey Acome. The midfielder registered 12 goals and five assists. He led the team with 136 ground balls.
* Midfielder Carter Danku. Another senior who finished with 21 goals and 22 points on the season. Danku S finished with a hat trick in a 16-14 win at Chapel Hill that clinched Cedar Ridge’s 2nd straight Big 8 Championship.
* Junior Ian Corbin. The defenseman played 16 games and proved a reliable presence for goalie Zak Berry.
In addition to Wolter, two other Orange players were named to the All-Big 8 Squad. Sophomore Tanner Boyer led the team with 34 goals and 22 assists, along with 56 points. Boyer had six hat tricks, including four-goal games against Eastern Alamance and Voyager Academy. He totaled seven points in an 8-7 victory over 2016 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Champion Carrboro.
Junior Payton Wilson also made the all-Big 8 team, the third time this yerar he appeared on an all-conference team. He was also the Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year in football and the 3A 220-pound state champion. Wilson used his grappling experience to win 58 faceoffs, a 65% success rate. His also scored 16 goals in what will be his final season of lacrosse at Orange. Last month, Wilson committed to play football at UNC and plans to enroll in early 2018.
Cedar Ridge’s Demetrius Lyles and Nick Bachelder were named honorable mention All-Big 8. Orange’s Jaylin Jones was also named honorable mention All-Big 8.
To the surprise of no one, Mia Davidson was named Big 8 Player of the Year for the 3A State Champion Orange Panthers Softball Team.
Orange placed five players on the All-Big 8 team, including the three senior tri-captains: Davidson, pitcher Kristina Givens and shortstop Abby Hamlett.
Also named to the All-Conference team for Orange were junior centerfielder Alysann Lloyd and freshman 1st baseman Jaden Hurdle.
In addition, Cedar Ridge placed two players on the All-Big 8 squad, Kara Wagoner and Tionna Carter.
Davidson finished the season with a .517 batting average, along with 12 home runs and 50 RBI. Her on-base percentage was .750. Davidson, who was named the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year for the second consecutive year on Monday, heads to Mississippi State with 53 career home runs, a North Carolina record.
Givens finished 22-3 in 256 pitching appearances. She threw five complete games, but her biggest contributions came in Orange’s run to the 3A State Championship. She threw 230 pitches in one night as the Panthers won two games against West Brunswick to capture the 3A Eastern Regional Championship. The following weekend, she threw 238 pitches in sweeping the state championship series against Piedmont.
Early in the season, Hamlett moved to shortstop in order to make room for freshman Grace Andrews at 2nd base, and it proved to be the right fit. Hamlett finished with a .489 average with a team-leading 43 hits. She was second on the team with 45 runs. She also led the team with 15 multi-hit games. Hamlett will go to East Carolina next fall for a medical career, and may also try out for softball.
Lloyd hit .342 with 25 hits and 24 RBIs. She hit six doubles. Lloyd was also the top hitter for Orange during the West Brunswick series, going 4-for-10 with 3 RBIs.
Hurdle anchored first base and may have been the biggest addition on the team. For the regular season, she had the top batting average on the team. She finished with a .443 average with 39 hits and 39 RBIs. Hurdle had RBI singles in each of the state championship series games against Piedmont, plus a 3-run homer in game 1 of the West Brunswick series.
For Cedar Ridge, Wagoner, a sophomore, hit .419 with eight RBIs. Carter hit .400 with 12 RBI.
J.F. Webb’s Leo Brunelli, who is also the boys basketball coach, was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. Webb’s Mary Ann Clement was named the Big 8 Pitcher of the Year.
After leading the Cedar Ridge baseball team to its first winning season since 2012, Coach Jamie Athas has been appropriately honored.
Athas was named the Big 8 Coach of the Year on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves finished 17-7 and hosted a state playoff game for the first time since 2007, defeating Nash Central 4-1. Cedar Ridge also defeated crosstown rival Orange 6-0 on May 3, its first win over the Panthers since 2012.
In addition, three Red Wolves were named to the All-Big 8 Team.
* Senior centerfielder and pitcher Brandon Andrews, who was usually the leadoff batter, hit .420 with a team-leading six doubles. He also led the squad with 3 home runs and 20 RBIs. As a pitcher, Andrews went 5-3 with a 3.50 ERA, striking out 56, another team-high.
* Sophomore pitcher Phil Berger finished with an 8-2 record, recording wins in his last six starts. He earned the win in a 6-0 win over Orange on May 3rd, throwing a one-hit shutout. That one hit was an infield single in the sixth inning that was debatable. Berger also defeated Nash Central on May 10th, the Red Wolves 1st playoff win since 2007, when they were a 2-A team. Berger also hit .262 with 12 RBI.
* Sophomore shortstop Dante DeFranco led Cedar Ridge with 30 hits. He had a 13-game hitting streak from March 21st against Chapel Hill through April 28 against Carrboro. In the Hilltop Invitational Tournament, he went 4-for-8 with four runs scored. DeFranco also had an RBI in the playoff victory over Nash Central.
The Orange Panthers, who advanced to the third round of the 3A State Playoffs and finished 14-13, placed four players on the All-Big 8 Team.
* Centerfielder and leadoff batter Jaydin Poteat led the Panthers in six different categories: batting average, hits, runs, stolen bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Poteat, a junior, hit .381 with 32 hits and 28 runs scored. He stole 19 bases on 20 attempts.
* Pitcher and designated hitter Derek Lindaman ended his tenure at Orange with a 7-3 victory. He earned his 1st playoff victory in a 4-2 win at South Johnston on May 9. Lindaman saved his best outings for his final few starts, notching a 2-1 win over Big 8 champion Northwood, a 6-0 shutout of Webb that helped Orange get into the playoffs; a 9-1 victory over archrival Cedar Ridge. In his final game, he took a 1-hitter into the 7th inning against West Brunswick and was two outs away from another playoff win before the Trojans’ Garrison Gause hit a solo homer to tie it. West Brunswick eventually won in 9 innings. Lindaman also hit .300 in 25 plate appearances.
* Freshman shortstop Joey Berini hit safely in all three of Orange’s playoff games, which was no small feat since they were all pitcher’s duels. Berini drove in a run in the 4-2 win over South Johnston, and scored Orange’s only run at West Brunswick. In his first year on the varsity team, Berini hit .274 with 11 runs scored and 8 RBIs. He only made one error all season.
* Left fielder and pitcher Dalton Brown hit .325. Among the best contact hitters on the team, he struck out only three times. In 24 games, Brown had 13 hits and scored eight runs. His biggest game of the Eason was the 4-3 victory over Northern Vance, where he had three hits in a game that went 14 innings and took over six weeks to complete. It started on March 24th, was suspended after 13 innings because of darkness, then resumed on May 1st with Orange driving 90 minutes up to Henderson to play one inning.
